Fitzke, Smith have key roles in building stronger communities for military family readiness

Dr. Kayla Fitzke and Kim Smith represent East Carolina University and are playing key roles in the 2026 Military Family Readiness Academy this August through ongoing work with OneOp, a federally funded professional development platform for military family service providers.

This year’s four-week virtual series, Building Strong Communities for Military Family Readiness, runs on consecutive Wednesdays throughout August and is open at no cost to Extension professionals, service providers, community leaders and all who support military families.

Two military cadets and others in a room standing. The American flag is next to the cadets.
Two ROTC cadets and others in the room stand during a 2025 ECU Board of Trustees meeting. (ECU Photo by Rhett Butler)

Fitzke is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and medical family therapy director, leading a program that ECU created in 2005 as the first medical family therapy doctoral program in the nation. She is a subcontract principal investigator on the OneOp collaborative grant, which earned several awards at the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences conference for its 2024 Military Family Readiness Academy. Smith is a research associate within HDFS and the College of Health and Human Sciences who is a program coordinator for military spouse employment with OneOp.

They are among a network of professionals from land-grant universities who collaborate through OneOp in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the War Department and to create research-based professional development for those who serve military families.

“Military families don’t experience childcare, employment, education, or community support as separate issues — and neither should we,” Fitzke said. “One of the things I love about contributing to the Military Family Readiness Academy is its focus on bringing together experts who approach the same challenge from different perspectives. Childcare, military spouse employment, family well-being and military readiness are deeply interconnected, and lasting solutions require collaboration across sectors. Our childcare and military spouse employment webinar reflects that multidisciplinary approach by connecting national experts from research, policy, military programs, and community partnerships. Together, they’ll help professionals better understand these intersections and identify practical, partnership-driven solutions that communities can implement to reduce barriers to employment, expand access to high-quality child care, and ultimately strengthen military families, military readiness and the communities that support them.”

The 2026 Academy is designed for a broad range of professionals. In addition to Military Family Readiness System providers, the series is designed to welcome cooperative Extension educators, community-based service providers, state and local government partners, nonprofits serving military families and civic leaders in communities. All sessions are available live and on-demand with no-cost continuing education credits offered across multiple disciplines.

2026 Academy Schedule

All sessions begin at 11 a.m. (EST)

Each live session is followed by a related episode of the Practicing Connection podcast, released the Thursday after each Wednesday webinar. 

About OneOp
OneOp is a federally funded professional development platform that supports service providers who work with military families. OneOp is operated through a partnership of the Land Grant University System, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the War Department, providing no-cost webinars, courses, podcasts, and resources that help providers better serve military families across all branches of service.